The OIDAC Europe report for 2022/2023 has been published
Last week, on the International Day of Tolerance, OIDAC Europe presented its new Annual Report 2022/23. OIDAC stands for Observatory of Discrimination Against Christians. The report finds an increase of anti-Christian hate crimes by 44% over the last year. Arson attacks on churches increased by 75% between 2021 and 2022.
In 2022, OIDAC Europe documented 748 anti-Christian hate crimes in 30 different countries, ranging from arson attacks, graffiti, desecrations, and thefts to physical attacks, insults, and threats.
These numbers match the data of the OSCE Hate Crime Report, also released on November 16. The OSCE found 792 anti-Christian hate crimes in 34 European countries, making Christians the most targeted religious group after Jewish believers.
Two particular trends were highlighted in the report. One was the increase in arson attacks, which rose from 60 in 2021 to 105 in 2022. The second trend was that more hate crimes were perpetrated by radicalised members of ideological, political or religious groups that follow an anti-Christian narrative.
OIDAC Europe also found violations of parental rights to educate children in accordance with one’s religious convictions. Limitations of freedom of conscience through the elimination of conscience clauses from existing provisions in medical laws, which put medical personnel who refuse to participate in certain practices for reasons of conscience in vulnerable positions, were also noted.
Link to download the full report: https://www.intoleranceagainstchristians.eu/publications
